On Saturday night Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs) will make the first defence of his title against Belfast’s Caoimhin Agyarko (18-0, 7 KOs).

The fight takes place on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight fight with Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, live on DAZN pay-per-view.

Kelly’s talent and ability has never been in question but the 32-year-old from Sunderland has had to face questions about his stamina and toughness since he suffered a stoppage loss to the aggressive David Avanesyan back in 2021.

In January, The Ring’s No. 6-ranked junior middleweight got the chance to exorcise those memories when he challenged Murtazaliev for the IBF title.

Murtazaliev is exactly the type of fighter who will expose any shortcomings in those departments but Kelly produced an outstanding display of skill and heart. He dropped the tough Russian in the fourth round but had to pick himself up from a ninth-round knockdown and then gritted out the championship rounds to earn a tight majority decision and realize his dream.

During an appearance on "Inside The Ring," Kelly described how the win showed just how much he has changed since the loss to Avanesyan.

“Oh, just tenfold, I believe. Experience, ability, knowledge. Boxing is not only a physical game, it’s a mental and spiritual game and when you go into the depths of things you really start to learn who you are as a man outside the ring, who you are in the ring,” Kelly said

“The IQ and when I choose to make the smart choices, when and where. It's all about adjusting. Adjusting to their adjustments.

“I'm starting that. Even since I've won the world title, my coach [Adam Booth] who's very detailed and doesn't just say things to say things said, 'Something’s different. You are just totally different this training camp for some reason.'”

Agyarko is unbeaten, skillful and in good form but the Irishman will be taking a sizable step up in class on Saturday night. Kelly is determined to set the tone from the first bell and put himself in line for unification fights with the likes of WBO and WBO champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis and WBC title holder Sebastian Fundora.

“He's a solid pro. I don't think he's been in there with the levels which I've operated at and the levels which I can operate at and proven in the last fight,” he said.

“I believe I've got all the skills to take everything away from him.”